(…) there is a movement on USA university campuses to curtail any reference or performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, because it is sexist. You have likely heard the opening to Rigoletto, La donna è mobile.

My point here is that the behavior of women is absolutely nothing new. What is different today is that men are trying to accommodate women. (…)

Here are the lyrics in English, followed by the Italian.

Woman is flighty
Like a feather in the wind,
She changes her voice — and her mind.
Always sweet,
Pretty face,
In tears or in laughter, — she is always lying.
Always miserable
Is he who trusts her,
He who confides in her — his unwary heart!
Yet one never feels
Fully happy
Who on that bosom — does not drink love!